Making a MAME Dual Gun Cabinet

[mike boss]

I was able to get a gutted Virtua Cop 2 cabinet this weekend.
I'm looking into possibly MAME'n it and loading it with all gun games.
I compiled a list on ROMLister, 117 games....so that aint soo bad!
This would the first time I've taken on a project like this.
Much of the info I found seemed to be outdated.

Can anyone suggest a particular build of MAME ?
Good guns to get ? Ones that will work with MAME ?

I understand some games have issues with shooting off screen to reload.

Any info would be great, thanks all.

[Donkbaca]

Get the latest version of MAME, MAME didn't add lightgun support until like MAME 132 or something like that, so it hasn't been around all that long.

As far as guns go, your choices are pretty much Aimtraks vs Act Labs.  Topguns are an option, but they are as expensive as aimtraks, if not more, harder to find, and aimtraks are superior in pretty much every way.  If you are using a CRT  act labs will work, if you are using an LCD, aimtraks are the only way to go

The most frustrating thing with lightgun games is that a lot of the good ones don't work well in MAME.  Virtua cop, house of the dead, time crisis.  None of these work.

You can get Virtua Cop and HoTD working in the M2 emulator.  But it doesn't support off screen reload, and it only supports one gun at a time.

[mike boss]

I was looking into the Act Labs products, and I saw that some "patch" existed to rectify issues with shooting off-screen.  I thought the games you mentioned HOTD, etc were working with the new products. Perhaps I have to go give it a second read. Right now I'm in the doing my homework stages.

I think I'd go with a CRT, a TV or 21" PC monitor if needed. I'm going to look into all the costs and figure out if its even worth doing the project.

I was told to look into Happ guns. Anyone have any input on them ?

[Donkbaca]

The happ guns don't work with MAME as far as I know.

Its not that the games don't work with the products, its that the gmaes don't work.

Like I said HOTD works in the model 2 emulator pretty well, but model 2 doesn't support 2 lightguns, and if you shoot of screen, the whole emulator minimizes.

[mike boss]

Oh.... ok I follow now.
I appreciate all the info. Like I said I'd like to do my homework now so that I know what I'm getting into.
The cabinet is 2 players, but if a game only works with one player I think I'd still add it.
I would compile a list of games via ROMlister and do a custom MaLa layout....that much I know.
It's getting it working, and working well that I'm concerned about.
I'd like it if the "good games" all worked well.
I was also looking into the idea of using other emulators. I know the Aim Track Act Labs worked with NES games from what I gather.

http://thetroubleshooter.home.mindspring.com/index.htm
http://thetroubleshooter.home.mindspring.com/games.htm
http://www.act-labs.com/gun_gamelisting.htm

[Donkbaca]

Yeah, I would get it all set up and then buy the guns as the last step.

Model 2 is the sega emulator, it will run HOTD, and virtua cop great.  But you have the one gun limitation, and you can't shoot off screen.

You might be able to use the play station emulator to run time crisis, I haven't messed with it though...

[mike boss]

One of the things I was considering was trying to see if in options (specific game options) I could disable 2 players.
That way a game like HOTD that did not support two players in MAME would not give the player an option to play............PERIOD! (lol)
I also like the idea of having several emulators on the system. I guess my "greed" when it comes to MAME and its 6000+ available games makes a machine
with a lil more than 100 seem, well sh*ty!

But by adding emulators for things like PS1, Nintendo, etc I would have duplicates I know, but as you pointed out some emulators will run some titles near flawless.

I thought this link was cool : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_light_gun_games

I also noticed with the "trouble shooter" patch that you can select "auto reload. I think that eliminates the need to shoot off screen.

[Donkbaca]

shooting off screen isn't an issue, you can map reload to one of your guns buttons.

HOTD does not run in MAME, it will run flawlessly in model 2 though.

[mike boss]

Thanks for the steer towards Model2. I'm going to do a lil more homework and start to gather the required files.
I think this could be cool...........if I can pull it off.

[BadMouth]

Another thing to consider is that the act labs guns won't work with games that had mounted guns, like Terminator 2 and Revolution X. 
There are ways to get them to work, but you can't hold in on the trigger and spray bullets the way you were meant to.

Because of the way they work (like true light guns of old), the computer only knows where the gun is pointed the instant the trigger is pulled.
If you hold in on the trigger and move the gun, it will just keep firing shots in the spot where you first pulled the trigger.  This doesn't work well for games that had mounted guns, but it's accurate down to a pixel.  They also don't have the offscreen reload issue in M2 emulator.  You must use a CRT TV with an S-video input or a CRT monitor.  Replacements might not be easy to come by down the road, if you still plan to be using them in 10 years.

The aim trak guns use ir emitters mounted around the screen and a sensor in the gun tracks them, so the computer always knows where the gun is pointed.
It will work just like a mouse and should work on any game a mouse will.  However, it isn't as accurate and you must stand back far enough that the camera in the gun doesn't lose sight of any of the sensors.  I've read posts by some people who weren't happy about the accuracy and how far back they have to stand and I've read other posts by people who absolutely love them.  I have no personal experiend with them.
Perhaps Donkbaca can comment on exactly how far away you need to stand.  If you don't have a problem leaving the crosshairs turned on in mame, the shot will always go where the crosshairs are.

I use an old set of act labs guns that I got fairly cheap (they look like ray-guns, not arcade guns  ).
I've been happy with them.  Being able to play a whole nutha genre of games is great.   
It would be nice to be able to play Gunblade NY on M2 emulator with them though.

It's a PITA to set up and will probably be a lot easier to use in the next version, but there are some pretty good Naomi & Atomiswave light gun games supported by Demul.  Limited to Player 1 on this emulator also though. http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=108239.0

Stay away from the repackaged (X-plosiv) versions of HOTD II & III.  They won't work well with front-ends and you can't turn off the crosshairs.

[Donkbaca]

I think you are confusing the aimtraks with the LCD topguns. I think most would agree they are as accurate or more accurate than the act guns, especially when calibrated. You don't have to stand very far back at all when using them either, unlike the topguns

The aimtraks do take more work to set up though, since you have to put the guns together.  If you are using a CRT I say it's a tossup between the two, if you are using a LCD aimtraks are your best options.

Thanks for the heads up on demul.

[BadMouth]

I think you are confusing the aimtraks with the LCD topguns. I think most would agree they are as accurate or more accurate than the act guns, especially when calibrated. You don't have to stand very far back at all when using them either, unlike the topguns

Thanks.  Fear of having to stand way back is what has kept me from trying them.
If my old ray guns or my crt tv dies, I'll definitely go with the aim-traks next time around.

[Donkbaca]

Yeah, the aimtraks are a big improvement on the top guns.  the top guns have 2 huge sensor bars that you need to mount on the top and the sides of the cabinet, the aimtraks have a small LED PCB that is only about 4 inches wide by about 1 inch tall and it mounts to the top of your screen.

Is getting Demul to work worth it in your opinion?

I also have no experience with the digital leisure games like mad dog mccree

[BadMouth]

Is getting Demul to work worth it in your opinion?

I also have no experience with the digital leisure games like mad dog mccree

Making Demul work was worth it for me.  It's only a few games, but they are pretty good.
HOTD III stutters a bit on my system (2.9Ghz Athlon X3, XP32)  It's playable, but not the best experience.
If you're using Hyperspin, you can get scripts already set up off the HS boards.
(I think they just use a long delay instead of waiting for a target number like I did)

The digital leisure games are super simple to set up, just copy the contents of the CD to a folder and point to the exe.
The only issue is that you have to use an autohotkey script to make them go fullscreen after launching.

There's also the option to convert them to work with Daphne SINGE if you want the scoring, etc to more closely resemble the original arcade games, but I found that it degrades the video quality too much.  If you start with the DVD version of Mad Dog, I think it comes out ok, but there's no solution for the other games.  I tried both and went back to running the digital leisure pc versions.

Whatever you do, make sure the Digital Leisure CDs you buy have XP compatible on the front of the jewel case.
If they don't, they are the old DOS version.  They will work, but the video quality is terrible.

I have all of them but Fast Draw Showdown. 

[Donkbaca]

So would you recommend getting the DVDs or the CDs?

I don't have Daphen on my cab, been thinking about adding it if I can get a good deal on the software.

[BadMouth]

So would you recommend getting the DVDs or the CDs?

I don't have Daphen on my cab, been thinking about adding it if I can get a good deal on the software.

I know the Mad Dog DVD works with Singe, but it's the only one.  Mad Dog II didn't work last time I checked.
You'll be limited to the PC CD-ROMs for the rest of the shooting games.  I don't think they're even available on DVD.

I have Daphne installed, but haven't kept up with any changes, so I'm not sure if it's compatible with the new HD versions of the other games like Dragons Lair, Space Ace, etc.

[mike boss]

Thanks guys, all awesome info posted. I've got so much more of a knowledge base in the last 24 hours.
I like to try and prep as much as I can.
I'm familiar with the "ray gun" Act-Labs, I agree they dont quite deliver in the looks department.
But from what I read they work well and they were priced well.
I'm in Toronto (Canada), and Act Labs is in BC - I'm looking @ $200 + %13 tax + shipping for a pair of guns! OUCH!
Seems like quite a bit , mind you they seem to have little competition.

I'm going to start by cleaning the cabinet (I'll post some pics later) and then working on a PC.
Trying to get a used P4 that would do the trick.
The one thing I have settled on is a MaLa based front end with multiple emulators and (providing I have the space) complete light gun ROM sets for the individual consoles.

Every console seemed to have one or two token shooters, so I think this will give the cabinet such depth.

I'm looking forward to this.

Any other info, suggestions, game recommendations, even emulator recommendations please post.

[Donkbaca]

Did the cabinet you bought come with the guns?  If so you can use those shells and install aimtraks in them and have a complete solution for less than 100 bucks

[mike boss]

Opinion question - would it be worth looking into finding PC specific versions of some of the more popular titles ? For example a HOTD ?

[mike boss]

Did the cabinet you bought come with the guns?  If so you can use those shells and install aimtraks in them and have a complete solution for less than 100 bucks

NOPE! I wish, but all the innards were gutted.

[Donkbaca]

Well if you decide to build some aimtraks, I'll help you out with what I did.  I got mine built using some generic guncon2 playstation guns.  I got them working and they even have vibration feedback and I did it for just under a hundred bucks for the pair.

From what I hear the pc versions of those games suck, but you can probably find them for like 5 bucks a piece, so they may be worth a shot.

[mike boss]

Sweet, thats awesome and thank you very much.
I'll get the pics up in a bit. The cab had all the inside gutted, as were the guns.
It does have the 1 and 2 player start button. I'm thinking I'll need to wire some admin buttons, like ENTER, ESCAPE, and CREDIT. I'll need to look over on KLOV, but I guess most games allowed you to shoot to select your options ?

I'd hate to have the games not function cause I screwed up and didn't add a button or two.

[Donkbaca]

Here is the tutorial i followed

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=101016.0

I got those guns from vpgames.com for like 8 bucks a piece.  You get the aimtraks from ultimarc.com

So you want to set it up so that there are only gun games?  That would be sweet.  The aimtraks let you set up 5 different butons on the gun.  I wonder if you could map credit and escape and such to them.  If that is the case, then you would be golden, you wouldn't even need to get an ipac or anything.  Aimtraks work just like mice, so you could navigate the front end with no problems at all.

[mike boss]

I'll read that now.
And to answer your question, "Yes" the cabinet will be %100 light gun games.
I'm thinking though that I will %100 need to wire the admin buttons. But the air trak could be a good option.
So much info to process.

These : http://www.vpgames.com/p-6290-ps2-psx-mini-light-gun-w-usb-port.aspx

[BadMouth]

If you're going to buy an interface for the admin/credit/start buttons, consider adding two service buttons behind the coin door or on top the cab.
Most games are going to have to be calibrated in the games service menu.
Although in theory you should only have to do it once,  I find myself going back into the service menu to recalibrate and tinker with stuff more when it comes to the gun games.

[mike boss]

I just did a DK JR project (which is %90 done..........I need to add t-molding (or order) and side art (which I have))
For that cabinet I used an inexpensive Japanese keyboard encoded and added three buttons to the bottom of the control panel.

It works out awesome, you use player one start to select the game, then the admin button for credits. I also wired an escape button which allows you to exit the game and MaLa when no game is played. The enter I didn't really need.

Here is the cabinet as is, I'll take some pics of it SLIGHTLY cleaned tomorrow.








I have to confess I was never really a fan of gun games growing up. This project has my really getting into them, but they were often NOT the recipient of my quarters growing up. This limited knowledge has my exploring many options, trying to figure out which configuration would work. I think as noted above that I will have to go into the games and make one off changes to certain titles, that I expect.

My issue comes more from a standpoint of when (if) I sell the cabinet. Can a user who simply wants to play the games and has no prior knowledge of MAME, etc just start playing ? As always I'd hide the PC behind the coin door, a keyboard and mouse would also be present.

The cabinet itself has player one and two start I guess really the only button I NEED/MUST have is credit ?
Gun games didn't use many buttons did they ? I cant see them using buttons, or many games having buttons on the side of the gun ? Isn't that more console type guns ?

I've seen a mod prior where the individual wired a switch up behind the coin reject button. That is looking like an option right now, or some white buttons on the front of the cabinet. But I think the idea of perhaps two switches (like test/service) behind coin door in connection with a switch behind the coin reject would do what I need it to do, while preserving the stock look of the cabinet.

This is what I was thinking :



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

[Donkbaca]

You have got me excited bro!

[mike boss]

Thanks to everyone for the tips, advice, pointers, etc.
I've still got a bit more homework to do before I start getting everything together.
I've got to read more about each gun and really let it sink in. I want the guns to be as universal as possible.
Will Aim Trak guns work with other emulators ?
Cost wise I think the guns from Ultimarc make the most sense.
I want to contact DHL to get an idea on the brokerage fees.
But if I can locally find suitable shells they would come in cheaper then the Act Labs guns.
The Act Lab guns have a ton of info online from people who have used them, and I know they would work with a NES emulator for example. I'd like the guns I get  to work with PS1 to Dreamcast emulators, to everything in between.

Layout wise I have settled on keeping the cabinet stock on the outside with a credit button either rigged to the coin return or in the form of a button inside the coin door. Not gunna put much money into the cabinet either, looking @ getting a 25" TV used on Kijiji.

Really the sticking point and most important thing is the guns. I think between the multiple emulators available most of the big titles will be playable on one of them. Looking forward to trying out M2.

[BadMouth]

Aim-traks will work with anything your mouse will work with...period.
Easy enough to test before buying.

Not sure of your location, but this place popped up in the U.S. recently selling already assembled aim-tracks in different shells.
www.arcadeguns.com
It's something else to look at.

[mike boss]

Oh wow, I'll check that out now.

I have an opinion question, I can get the following PC for $100 with 15" LCD (Which I would normally pay $40 for anyway........and need for my bartop jamma cabinet) - This suitable for my gun cab ?

Dell Dimension mini-towers:
 
- 3.0Ghz Intel Pentium 4.
- 80Gb HDD.
- 512Mb RAM.
- DVD Burner (DVD Burner!!).
- Ethernet Card.
- Plenty of USB Ports.
- XP Home Edition.
 
Units have keyboard and mouse.
 
Bundled with a 15" LCD Monitor !!!

[Donkbaca]

that will probably work, you might want to get a better video card for the M2 Emulator though, and maybe some more ram.

For comparison, I am running a p4, 3.0ghz, 1.5gb ram, an ATI radeon 9800 (which is an old crappy card)  And I can run most of the playable games.

The only thing I would change is to get a better graphics card, because mine doesn't support pixel shader 3, only PS2 and the latest M2 emulator just started with PS3 support.

Setting up the cab should be easy if you get aimtraks.  just set the cab up so you can do everything with mouse clicks, then just sub the aimtraks for the mouse.

[mike boss]

Cool, again I thank you for the input.
I just sent a message to the seller to see if they have any more PC's in stock.
(and if I can get a cash price.........no tax! it's 13% in Ontario)

If they have them I'll get one this week and start doing my install.
80 Gig is a good size hard drive, I'd suspect I can get most everything I need onto that HDD.
I was going to only move the ROM files I needed, but that would be too much work sifting thru them.

I  think what I will do is inquire with the seller if they have RAM available for the PC and a better videocard, see if they can assemble me a bundle perhaps.

[Donkbaca]

if not you can get a 1gb stick of ram on ebay for like 20 bucks and a video card for like another 20.

That's what I did.

But yeah that's a fair price for that rig considering he's throwing in the monitor.

[mike boss]

I'm still waiting on a response from the seller.
As soon as he/she responds I'll inquire about the video card + RAM.
Perhaps another few bucks and I'll have an optimal machine (for this use anyway).
I would suspect I can bang out the PC work in about a week.
That includes searching for the emulators and ROMs needed.

[mike boss]

For anyone interested here is where I stand.

I took a good look at this cabinet today and it's in decent shape.
The sides look bad due to the side art being removed, but once cleaned up they will rock.
From the front the cabinet is in really good shape. Nice plexi, nice marquee, pretty clean to be honest.

I've placed an add locally to get (I hope) some GunCon 2 controllers, and I'm trying to find some numbers for game resellers. Providing I can get them I'm going to go with Aim Trak guns. Dollars and cents it makes sense. Ultimarc makes good products and the general opinion is they will work with any game that will work ! So regardless of the emulator I'm covered.

Looking to get the PC as mentioned above and waiting on confirmation of upgrades from the seller.

Going with MaLa as the front end and a custom skin (which I create and sell for anyone looking for something custom). Set up for light gun only games and multiple emulators including NES, SNES, SEGA, M2, and MAME.

[Donkbaca]

http://www.vpgames.com/p-6290-ps2-psx-mini-light-gun-w-usb-port.aspx

these are the guncons in that tutorial

[mike boss]

Not much to report on this project.
The seller of the PC (local retailed who sells off lease units) hasn't respond to my questions.
He has another better/faster unit for $147, however I'm unsure if that is a bundle or just the PC itself.
If it's a bundle I'll spend the money as the upgrades are technically done on that unit.
It's a lil chilly here in Ajax, Ontario Canada so working outside isn't ideal.
But I did take some time to go outside and gut and clean the cabinet.
This thing was super clean inside, I was shocked.
I removed the front glass, marquee, and coin door. Otherwise it was pretty gutted.
The coin door I'll hit with a few coats of black semi gloss spray paint to give it a lil pop.
Otherwise I want to keep costs down, and I'm going to leave the sides as is.
I might just paint the damaged areas of the side with some acrylic craft paint and a brush.
I'm debating on side art, simple side art, just the "Virtua Cop 2" logo. But I'm unsure at this point.

I  tried for the first time today spraying down the cabinet with a mixture of vinegar and water. Letting it sit for a few moments then rubbing down the sides with baking soda and a scraper. Worked amazing! A cheap and easy fix  to a nasty mess of goo! Got it cleaned really well and pretty fast at that. My hands were cold so I didn't give the cab a good wipe down yet. I also went over the cab with a magic eraser which also worked wonders to remove some nasty film on the sides as well as a few scuffs.

As far as cleaning goes I want to go over the cabinet one more time for any adhesive areas I missed. Then perhaps give the cabinet a wipe down again with a baking soda mix. I'll finish up with another pass with the magic eraser then some clean warm water and laundry soap. As I said not going to do all that much cosmetically to the cabinet and cost is a factor.

I'll  give the buying some clean, fun, and well working. What he or she wants to do after is their choice.

Took a few cell phone pics to show.




** I didn't take a pic, but the black scuff marks on the left side of the cabinet came off easily with the magic eraser. **

[mike boss]

I do have a question with respects to setting up the cabinet.
The monitor in this unit was on the bottom of the cabinet facing up as it would be in a cocktail unit.
An angled mirror was placed along the top of the cabinet.

I'm leaning towards installing a 25" TV into this unit. And I'm looking to go with Aim Trak guns.
Can I/should I go with the same type of instillation the cabinet would have come stock from the manufacturer.

OR.......

Just build a shelf and sit the monitor on top of the shelf. That way like a standard arcade unit the monitor is directly in front of you when playing ?

EDIT : I sent an email to Andy @ Ultimarc. He said he sees no issue with using the monitor in connection with the mirror. So providing I can mount the monitor easily enuff that is what I'll try.

[mike boss]

A lil early but I started working on a skin for MaLa.
Very specific in design I used art from "House Of The Dead."

Any thoughts ?

I  tried to give it an orange and blue look, but it didn't look good.
I thought the color scheme would look good with the exterior of the cabinet.
I'll keep making modifications til I get it perfect.

[flashiv]

A lil early but I started working on a skin for MaLa.
Very specific in design I used art from "House Of The Dead."

Any thoughts ?

I  tried to give it an orange and blue look, but it didn't look good.
I thought the color scheme would look good with the exterior of the cabinet.
I'll keep making modifications til I get it perfect.

Very nice Artwork Mike

[mike boss]

Very nice Artwork Mike
[/quote]

Thanks ! I'm happy with how its coming together.
I think all in all this could be a really sweet project.
I've tracked down one GunCon 2 locally and the seller is willing to ship.
I'm trying to see if any members of my local coin-op group would be willing to pick it up for me.
(I'll toss em a few bucks) ......if not shipping it is!
I've located a second one, but the seller is yet to respond.

In the past I've ordered parts from China, the sellers have the RF Top Gun for $66 USD.
I'm wondering is that the way to go ? I still have to do my homework on it, I know very little (nothing in fact) about it. I need the gun to have the D-Pad as it does in the GunCon 2.

That's about it for now, fingers crossed it all works out.

[mike boss]

So as I explore the world wide web I'm left a lil confused.
Act Labs - seem like a decent product, but costly.
Aim Trak - decent price @ $44 for the innards (per gun) , but I need a shell to house them.
That shell is hard to find !
Top Gun - So I found the wireless RF Top Gun for $32-39 each. From HKEMS they can ship via standard Hong Kong post for $38. So I'm looking about $118 US.

If I go with the Aim Trak when all is said and done dollar wise it should come in around the same about. But require that I do the work myself. I'm reading lots of mixed stuff about the Top Guns. I read one post where the user got them working with the Troubleshooter patch made for Act Lab products.

Anyone have a Top Gun, thoughts, tips ?

[mike boss]

Ok so as I read and read and read............did I mention read ?
Anyway, looking around I know now what is available.

The Act Lab guns which would run me $200/250 shipped. Seem to work with a ton of things. But the price is a real turn off!

The Aim Trak guns : price for the innards is good. Even if I tack on $20 for customs and duty I'm good with the price. Getting these bank on me finding my own shell, that to date has not been easy. I'm thinking with all things added up these would be close to $150/200 for the pair. They require work as I would need to assemble them. I'm not the most handy of person and I have 0 solder skills........so these are..........um............on the fence!

Now the RF Top Gun - Price is good, $40 each and  about $35 to ship. So about $118 shipped for a pair via regular Hong Kong post. They also said they declare a low value for customs, which should help me to avoid duty. I also think the wireless would be a plus when selling. But I read mixed reviews. I even read a post where a guy used the "TROUBLESHOOTER" patch developed for the Act Lab guns.

I have a few concerns with these guns. Many people say the configuration is hard when referring to mounting the sensors. That might take time, but I dont see that being an issue. My concern is they use a USB receiver like a wireless internet connection. With the PC getting housed in a cabinet would that be an issue ? Secondly I plan on mounting the monitor in the bottom of the cabinet as it was from the factory, also using the existing mirror that was in the cabinet. So when you are shooting the gun you are shooting at a reflection of the image. The mirror obviously is right in front of  you as a monitor would be. So in this scenario the monitor and sensors would be in the bottom of the cabinet.

Has anyone used these guns ? Happy, dont like em ? Love em ? Anything you guys could tell me would be awesome !

[Donkbaca]

Don't get the top guns.  You need to mount these sensors to the outside of the cab, they are big and bulky and ugly.  Plus you have to stand far back for the top guns to work so that the gun can see these sensors.

Act labs will work great, but only for a CRT.

Aimtraks will work with anything.

With the aimtraks, you can use just about any old light gun for the shells.  Didn't I post you a link and a tutorial that I followed for my guns?  My guns were the first time I soldered anything.  Its not that scary.  Some people even use nerf guns for their shells.

You can always get the aimtrak shells for 44 bucks a piece.  they are snap together, no solder necessary guns. You can get them here
http://www.ultimarc.com/JShopServer/section.php?xSec=7&xPage=1

[mike boss]

The Aim Trak innards + shell make for an expensive item.
I did indeed read the tutorial, but then came across all the mixed info on Top Gun's.
So it looks like I'm leaning back towards the Aim Trak then.

I have located one shell, but the other shell..........no luck!

[Donkbaca]

just do a search on ebay for guncon or light gun

[mike boss]

Found a seller, just sent an offer.
He is local, fingers crossed

[mike boss]

So today I managed to pick up a pair of GunCon 2 in good condition.
Got them for $40 with the Y-splitter and 3 games.
I don't need the extra stuff, but it was still sweet.
Tonight I'll order the stuff from Andy, %100 going Aim Trak.

[mike boss]

Working on the layout for MaLa.
Had a hard time finding art work or getting ideas to be honest.
Found this art from "House of the Dead Overkill."
Really liked the Sin City look of it, and the chick is hot.
Lets be honest, dudes............we like guns, we like chicks, chicks with guns (you pick what kind!) are hot !
So now that I've settled on it I started to make some variants.

Here are a few, any thoughts are welcome.

[mike boss]

I like the one with the leg and boob over the window.
This is font I like, something dirty and grungy.
Thoughts ?

[mike boss]

Opinion question :

Picked up a pair of GunCon2 this week.
Ordered my Aim Traks today.

Going with a multi emulator set up and MaLa as the fontend.

Thinking to wire the trigger (B1),bottom of the handle (B2), and the D-pad so the cabinet user can navigate MaLa.
Am I forgetting something ?

[Donkbaca]

can you navigate mala solely with a mouse?  IF that is the case you don't need to solder p the dpad

[mike boss]

I just checked using my mouse, and granted I might not have it set up. But I could not use the wheel to navigate. The right mouse button triggered the settings.

[mike boss]

Not much to report in the way of this project as of now.
Aim Trak's on order and should ship next week.
My buddy is on board to help me wire them up!
Decided on my wiring set up, I'll do the trigger, button two at the bottom of the gun, D-pad, and add a credit button to the gun. I think that will be cool. I wont need to muck around inside the cabinet, and I wont need to add an extra button.

Basically you fire up the cabinet which would load right into MaLa. Use the gun to navigate the menu and select your  title, select your title by hitting P1 start on the cabinet (which you would do in the arcade anyway) but apply credits via the gun.

I hope to get the PC no later than next weekend. I think the PC will take me  the longest when it comes to things on this project.

[mike boss]

House Of The Dead, Virtua Cop 1 & 2 are the only 3 light gun games for Sega M2 Emulator correct ?

[BadMouth]

House Of The Dead, Virtua Cop 1 & 2 are the only 3 light gun games for Sega M2 Emulator correct ?

Well, since you went with the aim-traks, you can play the positional gun games also 
Gunblade NY, Behind Enemy Lines & Rail Chase.

There was some weird thing with the last build where you had to use a dat file from an earlier build to get the first two working.
Not sure if it was fixed with the latest update, but give it a try.  I can post my dat file if needed.

[mike boss]

House Of The Dead, Virtua Cop 1 & 2 are the only 3 light gun games for Sega M2 Emulator correct ?

Well, since you went with the aim-traks, you can play the positional gun games also  
Gunblade NY, Behind Enemy Lines & Rail Chase.

There was some weird thing with the last build where you had to use a dat file from an earlier build to get the first two working.
Not sure if it was fixed with the latest update, but give it a try.  I can post my dat file if needed.

Cool! I got all of them except Rail Chase. I was unable to find that.
I was also able to get Resident Evil Survivor PAL , but its MDF format.
I guess for the PS1 emulator I need an ISO ? Any ideas how to convert this ?

I opened the MDF in IMGBURN and made it into an ISO. Was simple as heck...so I don't know if I did it correct.
When it was done I had an ISO the same exact size as the MDF and an MDS file...............

[mike boss]

Wanted to see how the GunCon2's would look with the cabinet.
They have a good size to them, very over sized in my opinion which worked out perfect with a cabinet like this.
I was concerned they would get dwarfed, but they didn't they look good.
I also picked up the original wiring for the original guns. That's a big plus, one less thing I will need to do & get.

[mike boss]

Perhaps someone can help me,
I'm looking online to see what gun games require CHD's.
From what I gather its only the Area 51 series and Carnevil ?
Am I missing anything ?

I found a complete M2 emulator that I'm going to get.

Big Buck Hunter, any emulators for that ?
HOTD squeals, anything for them to be played on ?

[Donkbaca]

If you do a search for lightguns in MAWS, it will tell you which ones need chez. Or you could just try the game in MAME Nd it will give you a file not found error.

I know i played some sort of hunting game on mame, don't remember which one.

The only HOTD game I have palying is the m2 one...

[BadMouth]

CHD's off the top of my head:  Maximum Force (or get the area 51/maximum force duo one), Crypt Killer

Others in the HOD series:  HOTD 2 on Demul, but I don't think the P4 will cut it (see the link in my post earlier in this thread)
                                    STAY AWAY FROM THE REPACKAGED XPLOSIV PC VERSIONS!!!  You can't turn off the crosshairs and
                                    they have a weird launch menu put there by XPLOSIV.  It just doesn't work well with MALA.
                                    I'm not sure about the Sold Out Software versions.

Postional gun games:  There is a list of all the positional gun games in MAME attached to my first reply in this thread:
                               http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=109833.0
                               Most of them suck, but if you want absolutely everything.....

EDIT: the list is missing Revolution X, not sure how that happened, but it's a worthwhile game.

[mike boss]

Thanks again all for the input and help.
The wealth of information on the web is just .............. AWE inspiring.
I end up reading so much that I sorta syke myself out.
I love sites like this cause people have such a wealth of information and have often done the exact same thing I'm looking to do. With respects to this cabinet I at first simply decided on the project cause I had the shell.
I was never much of a gun game person. But I thought it would be cool, but perhaps lacking. That's why I wanted to go with the multiple emulators. As I tell people about the project and read stuff I'm getting sooooooo into it.
I'm honestly bummed that the cabinet cant fit inside my house.

With that said I want this cabinet to be awesome. A fun time for anyone who plays. I want it to function well, look good, sound good, etc. I want it to provide the best experience it can. So if that means a few more hours, or a few more dollars so be it.

As of right now the plan is to go ahead with MAME and install a complete ROM set. I'll use ROMlister to make an edited list of gun games. I'll do full ROM sets for any of the small consoles, the NES, SNES, SEGA, etc. When I get upto PS1 and Dreamcast I'll only do light gun games. I've started  to compile these based on the master list I found on Wikipedia.

Thanks to all you guys I know that M2 is AWESOME! I had no idea about M2 prior. I'll probably toss that on complete also as the one I found is the size of a CD. That sound correct ?

Anything I'm missing that you guys can suggest ? Emulator, a PC game that was a hit ? Anything ?

[mike boss]

Thanks for posting that link to the positional gun games list.
Most of the games on it are listed in the Ultimarc Aim Trak manual.
When I go over my ROM selections I'm making sure I have everything on Andy's list as well as the Wikipedia list.

[mike boss]

Aim Trak's came in today ! yay !
Gotta say DHL brokerage was reasonable, $11.
Sent a message off to a buddy, he is going to help me wire them up.
Plan is clean up the GunCon's with some Nuvos this week.
Pick up the PC Saturday, I ordered three 28mm Sanwa buttons in yellow.
Going to add them to the front as admin buttons.
Might do one as credit, or do what someone said and glue a switch to the coindoor so the reject button hits it.
SWEET IDEA !

[mike boss]

Was able to make some progress on the PC side of the cabinet this weekend.
I got MAME & MaLa installed and working. I created a custom desktop for the PC that ties in with the existing MaLa layout.
Using the same artwork I created my custom "Now Loading" screen. Really happy with the artwork I've done so far.
I made a few adjustments also as I had messed up and created a vertical window for the snap, I corrected this and made it horizontal.
I'll post all the artwork and layout should anyone want it.

I used Uncle T's awesome MaLa guide to install everything.
I made some amendments, only using emulators that had light gun games.
I also added a Play Station & Sega Saturn emulator.

Took me a lil while to get some of the required files, like DLL files and what not.
But now everything is installed and ready for tweaking. Other than finding some games that I
have not yet obtained I think I've got pretty much every base covered.

I'm hoping this week I can get the rest of my snap files, ROMs, and CHD files moved.
From that point I'll revert back to Uncle T's guide to ensure the emulators work via command line.
If all goes well I should be able to easily add them to MaLa.

Seeing as I used all the same emulators Uncle T did I'm hoping I have no problems.
I'm thinking (as they are not on the guide) that I might have some issue with the Saturn & PS1.

[mike boss]

Artwork :

Shoot-em-up Multicade is the desktop image I'm using
Now loading is the custom load screen in MaLa
Two options of the main layout in MaLa, I'm going with the image that features the "use up/down to select game" and "press p1 to start" above the games list.
The other image has it above the snaps, but I don't think it makes sense.

[mike boss]

Do I leave the M2 ROMs zipped ?
Does anyone know what I would do with Dreamcast ROM files ?
I have a few games, do I unzip these games leaving the contents in my ROMs folder ?
Or do I unzip each game into its individual folder stored in my ROM folder.
Might be a lame question ,but I'm sort of confused by this.
Same question goes for my PS1 ROM files.

Thanks all

[Donkbaca]

Leave everything zipped, and the m2 roms should be the sane as the mame roms

[mike boss]

Thanks for the info.
I think in the XBOX some of the emulation works different.
I think I recall extracting ISO's for certain emulators.
So I thank you for clearing this up.

And just so I have this clear (forgive me I'm dense)
M2 ROM remain zip
Dreamcast + PS1 ROMs also remain zipped.

I take it the emulator has the ability to work through the zip and see the correct file ?

[Donkbaca]

yup, just like Mame does.

and again, you don't need M2 roms, they use the same roms as Mame

[DataWest]

Hey Im thinking about picking up a VC2 cabinet too and doing this conversion. How big is the thing? Im worried I wont be able to get it in my home. 

[mike boss]

This will not fit through my door, hence the reason it is living outside.
It's the reason I will be selling it!
I didnt get a chance to measure for you, but I will this weekend.

[DataWest]

The guy I was gonna get it from said it was about 34 inches wide!!!! Wow. No way to get it in my house. Thanks for the response. I'm looking into a dynamo cab now.

[mike boss]

Thought I would give a quick update on where I'm at with the project.

Cost to date :

Cabinet - FREE
GunCon2 x 2 - $40
Aim Trak - $97
Brokerage - $12
Computer - $70
-----------------------
TOTAL : $218

My buddy has given me some extra RAM free which is awesome.
I've got just about every ROM + Snap moved onto the PC.
The emulators are all installed, and I've followed to the letter Uncle T's awesome install guide.
All my artwork is done, from Desktop image, to MaLa menu, to custom load screen............DONE!
I don't think I'm going to make console specific artwork. I'm happy with the look.
I plan on getting the PC work done this weekend as well as some touch up painting.
A friend of mine is going to help me wire the guns in the coming weeks.
I'm really happy with where I'm at cost wise, and leaning towards keeping this project..............so
I might POP for a 24" LCD monitor.

[mike boss]

Setting up this PC is a TON of work!
I've been at it for three hours or so today and I'm not done.
All the emulators are in and MaLa easily calls them.
However they do require some tweaking, not all will exit the emulator upon exiting the game.
That is something I need them all to do for MaLa.
None of the M2 ROM files I tested worked, so I'll need to look into that.
And I'm having trouble with PlayStation (EPSXE) and Dreamcast (Chankast).
It's something to do with the file type I think. When I'm on the PC too long my brain stops working.
That's the point I'm at right now. I gotta go at it again with a fresh head.

Also turns out I'll need to create a MaLa tree, that's something I've never done. I'm hoping it ins't too too hard.
I plan on using the same layout for everything. As is I have to use my mouse  to right click and select emulator.
Not to mention the SNAP files are only showing up for MAME.

I still think this is going to be a cool cabinet. If all goes well I'll have the PC done this week (if not Sunday).

[mike boss]

Playing around with MaLa I know now that I will need to do a MaLa tree menu system.
I had wanted to use the one standard menu for each console.
Perhaps I can do something in the menu, but for right now it appears I have to right click the screen to select another emulator.
This obviously isn't ideal for the set up I'm  going for.
I was hoping hitting left/right would let me scroll different lists and consoles.
Anyway I read the WIKI a few times and it isn't sinking in today............I need a PC break.
However anticipating the changes I would have to do I created the following files.

[mike boss]

Forgot to add the PS1 menu. Pretty straight forward, same layout, same design, just added the console logos for a little bit of interest.

[BadMouth]

Playing around with MaLa I know now that I will need to do a MaLa tree menu system.
I had wanted to use the one standard menu for each console.
Perhaps I can do something in the menu, but for right now it appears I have to right click the screen to select another emulator.
This obviously isn't ideal for the set up I'm  going for.
I was hoping hitting left/right would let me scroll different lists and consoles.

   I've never messed around with the tree menu stuff, but with my setup,
it was just a matter of mapping buttons to Previous Emulator/Next Emulator.
Each emulator can either have it's own layout or they can all use the same one.

[mike boss]

Playing around with MaLa I know now that I will need to do a MaLa tree menu system.
I had wanted to use the one standard menu for each console.
Perhaps I can do something in the menu, but for right now it appears I have to right click the screen to select another emulator.
This obviously isn't ideal for the set up I'm  going for.
I was hoping hitting left/right would let me scroll different lists and consoles.

   I've never messed around with the tree menu stuff, but with my setup,
it was just a matter of mapping buttons to Previous Emulator/Next Emulator.
Each emulator can either have it's own layout or they can all use the same one.

Ahhh............I like the sounds of that. I never thought of that.
As is I need to use a mouse click to switch emulators.
The emulators are all there, and the games lists show up.
However the snaps dont..........I'll need to fix that.
I did plan on adding three admin buttons to the font of the cabinet (as I did for my Donkey Kong Jr under the control panel).
ENTER - CREDIT - and ESCAPE. Perhaps I can make the ENTER button switch emulators.

MORE HOMEWORK !

[mike boss]

OK so I've made a little bit of progress.
Got each emulator working with the customized menu (Console logo on standard menu  template).
It looks pretty cool ! The snaps are not working for each of the consoles, but I think it is because some of the ROM sets that I obtained are US only ROM sets.
So the ROM names don't %100 match the snap name. Could that be what it is ?
I guess this based off the fact that my M2 emulator has a complete ROM set and the snaps work.

However I am still unable to figure out at this point how to get from console to console without a mouse click. This is something I MUST accomplish!
The plan is to have the complete ROM sets and as in MAME a custom list of all light gun games per console. So your complete NES ROM set is loaded onto PC and will read as one list, hitting left/right will pull up your favorites and Zapper games.

This PC is the most complex set up I have ever done. It's going to take tons of time to configure.
I have no idea how to escape a Nintendo ROM. Therefore in play you can not his ESCAPE to dump back out to MaLa. I gotta get this working.
The same thing goes for the Super Nintendo emulator, ESCAPE dumps you out to it's menu...not MaLa.
The other issue I'm having is M2. The gameslist works in MaLa as it should, but when I call a game none of the games work. Do I need to always mount a game ?

[drventure]

Dang. Nice job with the artwork!

[mike boss]

IF only everything else went as well as the art work I'd be good !
Thanks none the less. I really want this cabinet to be like nothing I've ever seen before.
In concept it will accomplish that. From the custom art to the 26" LCD I'm using.
If the software gets working for me I'll be really excited. Sadly I don't know many people into
this type of thing that could help me out. Either I figure it out...or it doesn't get working.

[BadMouth]

Not promising anything, but I'll try to find some time to post pics of my MALA settings.
Most of the problems you've mentioned are just a matter of settings in the Options (right click>options)

>Map buttons to change emulator (might have to enable joystick depending on interface)
>Mala Hot Keys to post Alt+F4 to close emulators that aren't closing.
>Command line paramaters are probably wrong on M2

Does M2 work ok outside of MALA?

The snaps must have the exact names of the roms for them to show up.
If they are close, you can use fuzzy rename (search mala forum).
If they use a different convention, there are other tools out there to convert them to rom names.

[mike boss]

Thanks guys, I appreciate all the help.
I ended up figuring out the snaps thing by naming a few the exact same name as some of my ROMS........presto it worked.
Some of the ROM sets as I mentioned are US only. I'll look into that fuzzy rename.
I'd like to make this look as polished as I can.
For consoles that had very few light gun games I actually downloaded the screenshots myself and renamed them.
I've done this for PS1 and DREAMCAST. It works and looks good !

Loadman pushed me in the direction of the MaLa controls option. I have now got the layouts working propery and LEFT/RIGHT to switch between consoles.
However with that option set I could not go thru the invidiual console lists. To rectify this (for now) I utlized the ENTER key.
As noted above in the thread I'm going to have three admin buttons on the front of the cab (near coin door) ENTER - CREDIT - ESCAPE.
I did this on my DK and it works flawlessly. I'll also be adding a service and test button inside the coin door.

Here is a lil video in action.



Towards the end of the video when stopped on MAME you can see my cycle my lists.
This is done by using the ENTER key/button that will be on the cabinet.
I'm pretty happy with how this element is working.

[mike boss]

Not promising anything, but I'll try to find some time to post pics of my MALA settings.
Most of the problems you've mentioned are just a matter of settings in the Options (right click>options)

Thank you I appreciate all the help.

>Map buttons to change emulator (might have to enable joystick depending on interface)
>Mala Hot Keys to post Alt+F4 to close emulators that aren't closing.
>Command line paramaters are probably wrong on M2

I've used the LEFT + RIGHT arrow to now switch between emulators, however this option (when used) takes what typically would be used to scroll lists.
I thought by default perhaps it would go through the respect emulators lists, then move onto the next emulator. IT DOESN'T....or I didnt set it to do so.
However since I plan on my cabinet having three admin buttons, ENTER - CREDIT - ESCAPE, I have used the ENTER button to scroll lists.
My brain doesn't seem to be working as of late..............FAR TOO MUCH PC WORK! But if I could only get every emulator to exit via ESCAPE I'd be loving it.
So far I have tested NINTENDO (fecultra)...........calls the game with no problem, wont dump out.
SUPER NINTENDO (zsnes) ........... also calls the game, but ESCAPE dumps out to the zsnes menu. It wont dump out to MaLa

Does M2 work ok outside of MALA?

I'm yet to test M2 outside of Mala, but I do plan on doing so today.
The place where I obtained my ROM set is a service that I have used prior.
The stuff is top notch and I cant see why they would not work.
That [romsite name redacted] .....................


The snaps must have the exact names of the roms for them to show up.
If they are close, you can use fuzzy rename (search mala forum).
If they use a different convention, there are other tools out there to convert them to rom names.

SNAPS I ended up figuring out by renaming the odd one.
I will look into these tools now.

My biggest concern are emulators that require the mounting of images.
I just feel this will give me issues.
I used the guide created by Uncle  T.
I didn't install my DEAMON TOOLS where he said to, but when cutting the text he had used, I amended it to reflect my install.
I dunno! One day at a time I guess !

[BadMouth]

The emulators will stay on the last game list you left them on.
You can just leave them on the gun games list if the cab isn't going to have any other controls.

Can't help you with the emu's that require image mounting.
I've stuck to emulators that don't require it.
(Demul, NullDC or Makaron for dreamcast, but I doubt they'll run well on a P4 and Makaron doesn't support light guns)

There aren't any other options for Sega Saturn though.

[mike boss]

Does the Sega M2 emulator need a wrapper ?
I think I have the newest version and I'm going to try my ROMs with an older version....................
you never know that could be the problem ?
I tested it outside of MaLa and no luck.
Worst case I will just get a different set as it wont eat up too much of my bandwidth.

[BadMouth]

Get it working in M2 emulator first.  If it doesn't work in the emulator, the problem isn't with MALA.
There really isn't much to the M2 emulator.  It's the easiest one in my opinion.
Drop the roms in the rom folder and go....

What exactly is it doing? 

If you're getting a missing dll error, you may want to make sure your c++ & direct x runtimes are up to date.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?familyid=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=a7b7a05e-6de6-4d3a-a423-37bf0912db84
There is a package toward the bottom for computers that aren't hooked up to the internet.

[mike boss]

The M2 emulator is stating that I'm missing files in many of the ROMs I've tested.
It's a full set from [romsite name redacted], so I find that odd. As most things I've ever got from them worked well.

I'm proud to say I THINK I've got the SNES emulator working. I downloaded the wrapper for version 1.51 (which I'm using) it also included a script file. I see the script in my tool bar along the bottom of my screen. I just have to test to make sure that scrip runs each time the PC comes on.

[BadMouth]

The M2 emulator is stating that I'm missing files in many of the ROMs I've tested.

Make sure that your roms folder is in the same folder as the .exe
(otherwise you have to put the path to the rom folder in the EMULATOR.cfg by hand)

Also make sure you aren't missing one called model2
That's the bios.

There really isn't much that can go wrong with M2.

[mike boss]

Thanks! I'm going to try that now.

[mike boss]

I created the "roms" folder and obtained a few BIOS files.
They are BIN files ?
Anway tested 10 games, all cause M2 to close.
Here is the contents of the folder.

[BadMouth]

Dude, those are Sega CD bios  
 
There should be a zipped folder in the roms folder called model2
If it isn't there, just copy the one from your mame roms.

You say it closes.  Before you said it gave you a message about missing files.
It is behaving differently than before?

Also, how did the .dll get in there?  
If it said you were missing dll's then you need to update your runtimes (see my earlier post).

Yer gonna learn a lot before this is all over  

[mike boss]

Id like to thank you Bad Mouth for taking the time to help me out, I really appreciate it. And I'm glad that I will learn something, trust me I'm a willing student !

I removed the SEGA Bios files
I added the M2 zip folder and extracted the contents into the M2 folder.
Prior when I would goto load a rom I would see this screen and it would be scanning the contents of the folder I  take it. I would get an error saying missing files.
Now I have the BIOS files unzipped and in the folder, but get the same error.
The dll I had a note before saying missing so I guess I put it in the wrong folder!

[BadMouth]

I added the M2 zip folder and extracted the contents into the M2 folder.

Should be zipped and in the roms folder, just like any other rom.

I would get an error saying missing files.

What type of files? dll? rom? Does it give you the name of the file?

The dll I had a note before saying missing so I guess I put it in the wrong folder!

The reason is says you are missing dlls is that your directx runtimes aren't up to date.
Sometimes putting the missing dll into the same folder as the exe will work, sometimes not.
Either way, it isn't the right way to do it.  Update your runtimes per above posts.

If you don't want to do that, try an older version of M2 emulator.  It might work.
Older versions don't require the "newest" runtimes, but the ones you have might still be too outdated.

[mike boss]

Well I'm happy to report that I just unzipped the contents of the folder again and now M2 is working outside of MaLa.

I have no joysticks, but I see the games load up.
In MaLa do I point it to : emulator_multicpu OR emulator ?

Looks like I need to tweak it to get it fullscreen and add the option to exit via the escape key.

EDIT - unloading the ROM is causing the program to crash.
EDIT - why are the games black and white ?

[mike boss]

Doing a little more testing, but I think this PC is going to TONS more work.
Was playing around with M2 the other day. Outside of MaLa M2 is working well.
unloading the ROMs caused M2 to crash. Using "X" to exit is no issue.
The games play in black & white, reading online seems my video card is not sufficient.
No issue with that as I plan on changing that also, I have two at home.
I will also upgrade the RAM in the future.

For now I think it will be take one emulator at a time, configure it, test it, make sure it works, then move onto the next one. I'll start with FCEUltra and move on. I think the only emulator I have working flawless in MaLa is SNES.

OH MAN!......................

On a good note, I got the 26" TV other day....so that will be a nice lil addition to the cabinet.

[mike boss]

I've done  a little work on the PC.
I've got the NES emulator working, SNES working, and MAME working.
I'm using SEGA Fusion, SEGA master system games load, but not full screen, ESCAPE makes it full screen.
So I'll need to do a lil tweaking with Fusion.
M2 works outside of MaLa ,but for some reason when I call a game in MaLa it wont load.
I might need to post my settings in the event that I did something wrong.
I've gone over it several times, no luck figuring this out.
The rest of the SEGA systems that Fusion plays don't work. All I get is a screen that looks like your TV when your cable goes out. Soooooooooooo a lil more work ahead of me. I'm hoping to get it finished OR close to finished over the weekend.

[mike boss]

These are the videocards I have on hand. I plan on using one of them for this machine.
I know Ive had some issue as the existing (stock) card does not support pixel shader.
I'm hoping these are OK.

[mike boss]

I've got the Fusion emulator now working with Master System games.
I had posted in the software section a question about exiting the NES emulator.
It was suggested I use the "EDIT HOT KEYS" option, IT WORKED !
I used the same method with all the systems the Fusion emulates, it also worked.
So now all the Fusion systems exit with the ESCAPE key and start fullscreen.
However only the Master System ROMS load. I followed Uncle T's guide to the letter.
I don't know why they are not working.
I'm hoping this weekend to rectify all the existing programs.
As is M2 works fine outside of MaLa, but in MalLa the games wont load.
Chankast I cant get to work period.
Same thing with the PlayStation emulator.
Looks like I have tons of reading ahead!
Once the computer is working the way I want I'll move on to preparing the guns.
Cosmetically the cabinet is pretty close to complete. It still needs a good cleaning, the coin door needs a coat of black, and I have to install the three yellow admin buttons. Depending on how I feel (and availability) I might get some Virtua Cop side art.

[mike boss]

It just dawned on me that perhaps some of my other issues are BIOS related issues.
So I'll try my luck with that tonight.
Fingers crossed it works !
I know with the PS1 it's a lil deeper as I do have the BIOS files.
But for Dreamcast it could be the issue ?
Also, with FUSION would each console have its own BIOS files ? As noted Master System works

[mike boss]

UPDATE :

All emulators have been configured to exit using ESCAPE.
I've  got Fusion working now for SEGA Master System, 32X, and Genesis.
I had to unzip the ROM files for 32X & Genesis. Not sure why, but I had to. None the less they work so I'm stoked !

PS1 emulation is giving me a hard time. My Resident Evil game is an MDF file, it works.
I converted several games to MDF which also produces a MDS file. However they still don't work. If I'm not mistaken the PS1 emulator works off ISO files. I created ISO files for several games and no luck. This will take me a lil longer to figure out.

I switched from Chankast to Null DC. I'm having much better luck with Null DC, however I can tell I need more RAM. I get some load screen and the system hangs up. This emulator as well as SSF will require more work.

I've got House Of The Dead 1,2, & 3 for PC. One and two are installed. They are working great. They will however require my ADMIN buttons to exit. I tried using a hotkey in MaLa but it gave me an error message in HOTD1.

Here is a lil video, I created a custom skin for the House of the Dead menu.

[mike boss]

House of the Dead PC version - HOTD pt1 like many of the console emulators on the PC will make the most use of the ENTER button. The back of the GunCon2's will have the D-pad configured.

[mike boss]

This is the screen I get when loading NRG files in NullDC

[mike boss]

So as things start coming together and this project takes shape I thought I would ask again..................
any thoughts, ideas, things I'm missing ?

[mike boss]

No new update really.
Still trying to get the PC fully configured.
Having issues getting M2 & Null to work with MaLa.
(by work I mean launch the games from MaLa)

Over and above that all is going ok.
Looks like some of my issues during play stem from insufficient graphics and RAM issues.
But with this project strictly getting done for short term use and later selling I'm going to avoid putting more money into the PC. If I can find used parts locally for a good price I will do the videocard and RAM upgrades.

The retail location I got the PC from has RAM for about $45 and videocard for $60.

[mike boss]

Having a hell of a time getting NullDC & Sega M2 to work within MaLa (IE launch from MaLa).
It does appear (as noted here prior) that the PC itself would indeed need some upgrading to play these games anyway.
I got a price on RAM & a new videocard and honestly, by the time I add them to the PC cost it would be a waste of time.
I could have bought a better PC for less then the PC would end up costing me.
I've decided that I will leave the emulators and ROM files installed, but should the buyer want to figure it out or upgrade the PC he/she can.
I would have liked to have M2 running for Virtua Cop 2 which is true to what the cabinet is. But testing M2 outside of MaLa I noticed my videocard was not sufficient enough anyway.

All my other emulators are working and installed. I'm having issues with the PS1 emulator, but I have figured out its a ROM issue. One of my ROM files is an MDS (not on the PC so I'm going off memory) it works perfect. The ISO files I have wont launch.

So with the PC officially "done" (for all intensive purposes) I'll be moving onto the guns shortly. To get my House Of The Dead fix I installed 1,2, and 3, but all of which are the PC versions.

I'm liking this project, I think it will be really cool when all is said and done. I'm going to try something similar on a new better PC for my personal use in the near future. I've always wanted a Multi-System Arcade Cabinet in my line up. Looking online I've seen some awesome work. I've really come to like the idea of also adding a pair of Aim Trak guns again. In fact I just bid on a pair of GunCon 2's again.................I lost !

[mike boss]

Been awhile since I updated this.
Not much has happened in the way of the project as the warm weather brings with it tons-o-seasonal-fun !
And let me state for the record I mean work, lots of f**king work, work I don't enjoy doing.
But with my garage repair done and my garden now done I can come back to this project.

So here is the run down :

PC - Done ! Wasn't able to get some of the emulators working. As noted prior (and above) the PC isn't quite powerful enough to do all I wanted it to do.
All in all graphically and functionality I think it looks and works well. The MaLa images I created for menus have gotten quite a bit of positive feedback.
I'm debating changing the images to have a more orange look and match more the cabinet. That I'll see how I like later.

Cabinet - All cleaned up and ready to go. Just need to clean up the coindoor and install that again. I'll need to mount a simple shelf for the monitor and wire the buttons.
I'm yet to drill the menu button holes, however I have wired and tested the buttons and harness. That should be a really simple job.

Guns - A friend of mine was willing to help me out this week ,but due to some prior obligations I was unable to meet up. I would expect these done in the next two weeks.

From that point getting it all together should be easy. Going to the local coin-op auction on the 25th of the month, so I'll have some help that day should I need it.

[mike boss]

Recently came across the GunCon2Mouse driver online. Said I could use my GunCon2 plugged into my PC USB and then videocard video out into my TV.
I've purchased the Aim Trak modules but thought I'd give it a shot. It works, its' not perfect but it works.
Sadly the PCI videocard I got isn't sufficient enough to run MAME (ya I think it's SUPER FU*KING OLD!).
For that reason I'm unable at this time to fully configure everything as I cant change the Mame options.
I did notice I had a better time calibrating the guns on my 32" tube TV vs. my 21" TV.
The guns worked well for the NES emulator but were not tested in Mame.
In HOTD (House of the Dead) PC version I found the gun got stuck in the top left of the screen.
Someone had said that you could use the Troubleshooter patch that was designed for Act Labs guns.
But one thing I did notice is my guns when plugged in were recognized as GunCon2 and HID (?) devices.
However in the GunCon calibration menu the guns were not detected automatically.
Part of me thinks it could be this pair of guns ? So I'm trying to track down locally another pair of guns.
I figure if I can get them cheap enough why not try ?
Hoping that they get automatically detected perhaps I'll have better luck and perhaps they will work in connection with the troubleshooter patch.